Chase Family Collection
Limited Christmas Edition
Lauren Royal
Contents
Book Description
More Chase Family Books
Chase Family Tree
A Secret Christmas
1. One
2. Two
3. Three
4. Four
5. Five
6. Six
7. Seven
8. Eight
9. Nine
10. Ten
11. Eleven
12. Twelve
13. Thirteen
14. Fourteen
15. Fifteen
16. Sixteen
17. Seventeen
18. Eighteen
19. Nineteen
20. Twenty
21. Twenty-One
22. Twenty-Two
23. Twenty-Three
24. Twenty-Four
25. Twenty-Five
Author’s Note
Never Doubt a Viscount
1. One
2. Two
3. Three
4. Four
5. Five
6. Six
7. Seven
8. Eight
9. Nine
10. Ten
11. Eleven
12. Twelve
13. Thirteen
14. Fourteen
15. Fifteen
16. Sixteen
17. Seventeen
18. Eighteen
19. Nineteen
20. Twenty
21. Twenty-One
22. Twenty-Two
23. Twenty-Three
24. Twenty-Four
25. Twenty-Five
26. Twenty-Six
27. Twenty-Seven
28. Twenty-Eight
29. Twenty-Nine
30. Thirty
31. Thirty-One
32. Thirty-Two
33. Thirty-Three
34. Thirty-Four
35. Thirty-Five
36. Thirty-Six
37. Thirty-Seven
38. Thirty-Eight
39. Thirty-Nine
40. Forty
41. Forty-One
42. Forty-Two
43. Forty-Three
44. Forty-Four
45. Forty-Five
46. Forty-Six
47. Forty-Seven
48. Forty-Eight
49. Forty-Nine
50. Fifty
51. Fifty-One
52. Fifty-Two
53. Fifty-Three
54. Fifty-Four
55. Fifty-Five
56. Fifty-Six
57. Fifty-Seven
58. Fifty-Eight
59. Fifty-Nine
60. Sixty
61. Sixty-One
62. Sixty-Two
63. Sixty-Three
64. Sixty-Four
65. Sixty-Five
66. Sixty-Six
67. Sixty-Seven
68. Epilogue
Author’s Note
The Scandal of Lord Randal
1. One
2. Two
3. Three
4. Four
5. Five
6. Six
7. Seven
8. Eight
9. Nine
10. Ten
11. Eleven
12. Twelve
13. Thirteen
14. Fourteen
15. Fifteen
16. Sixteen
17. Seventeen
18. Eighteen
19. Nineteen
20. Twenty
21. Twenty-One
22. Twenty-Two
23. Twenty-Three
24. Twenty-Four
25. Twenty-Five
26. Twenty-Six
27. Twenty-Seven
28. Twenty-Eight
29. Twenty-Nine
30. Thirty
31. Thirty-One
32. Thirty-Two
33. Thirty-Three
34. Thirty-Four
35. Thirty-Five
36. Thirty-Six
37. Thirty-Seven
38. Thirty-Eight
39. Thirty-Nine
40. Forty
41. Forty-One
42. Forty-Two
43. Forty-Three
44. Forty-Four
45. Forty-Five
46. Forty-Six
47. Forty-Seven
48. Forty-Eight
49. Forty-Nine
50. Fifty
51. Fifty-One
52. Fifty-Two
53. Fifty-Three
54. Fifty-Four
55. Fifty-Five
56. Fifty-Six
57. Fifty-Seven
58. Fifty-Eight
59. Fifty-Nine
60. Sixty
61. Sixty-One
62. Sixty-Two
63. Sixty-Three
64. Sixty-Four
65. Sixty-Five
66. Sixty-Six
67. Sixty-Seven
68. Sixty-Eight
69. Sixty-Nine
70. Seventy
Author’s Note
A Gentleman’s Plot to Tie the Knot
1. One
2. Two
3. Three
4. Four
5. Five
6. Six
7. Seven
8. Eight
9. Nine
10. Ten
11. Eleven
12. Twelve
13. Thirteen
14. Fourteen
15. Fifteen
16. Sixteen
17. Seventeen
18. Eighteen
19. Nineteen
20. Twenty
21. Twenty-One
22. Twenty-Two
23. Twenty-Three
24. Twenty-Four
25. Twenty-Five
26. Twenty-Six
27. Twenty-Seven
28. Twenty-Eight
29. Twenty-Nine
30. Thirty
31. Thirty-One
32. Thirty-Two
33. Thirty-Three
34. Thirty-Four
35. Thirty-Five
36. Thirty-Six
37. Thirty-Seven
38. Thirty-Eight
39. Thirty-Nine
40. Forty
41. Forty-One
42. Forty-Two
43. Forty-Three
44. Forty-Four
45. Forty-Five
46. Forty-Six
47. Forty-Seven
48. Forty-Eight
49. Forty-Nine
50. Fifty
51. Fifty-One
52. Fifty-Two
53. Fifty-Three
54. Fifty-Four
55. Fifty-Five
56. Fifty-Six
57. Fifty-Seven
58. Fifty-Eight
59. Fifty-Nine
60. Sixty
61. Sixty-One
62. Sixty-Two
63. Sixty-Three
64. Sixty-Four
65. Sixty-Five
66. Sixty-Six
67. Sixty-Seven
68. Sixty-Eight
69. Sixty-Nine
70. Seventy
71. Seventy-One
72. Seventy-Two
73. Seventy-Three
Thank You!
Author’s Note
Bonus Material
Excerpt from WHEN AN EARL MEETS A GIRL
Excerpt from TEMPT ME AT MIDNIGHT
Explore the Chase Family World
Books by Lauren Royal
A Dozen Free Books
Enter Lauren’s Contest
About Lauren
Royal
Acknowledgments
Contact Information
Book Description
Two families, four connected novels…
You choose the order to read!
This limited-time holiday set includes a romance novel set at Christmastime that can be read either first or last.
If you feel like saving the Christmas story for the end, start with Never Doubt a Viscount, followed by The Scandal of Lord Randal, A Gentleman’s Plot to Tie the Knot, and finally A Secret Christmas. If you choose this order, you’ll meet Chrystabel and Joseph in their daughters’ three books, then be delightfully surprised to learn how the two of them met and fell in love.
If you’d prefer to read the books in chronological order, A Secret Christmas comes first. With this order, you’ll meet Chrystabel and Joseph before their children are born.
Either order works well!
A SECRET CHRISTMAS - England, 1651 - Christmas has been outlawed by the new Commonwealth government—but that won’t stop Lady Chrystabel Trevor from embracing the holiday spirit. When she finds herself snowed in with handsome and intriguing Joseph Ashcroft, the Viscount Tremayne, merrymaking leads to mayhem. In a time of fear and oppression, can the magic of Christmas bring two hearts together?
NEVER DOUBT A VISCOUNT - England, 1673 - Lady Violet Ashcroft isn’t planning to marry—she’d rather spend her time reading her beloved books than risking her heart. That is, until a handsome viscount named Ford Chase moves into the neighborhood…
THE SCANDAL OF LORD RANDAL - England, 1677 - Lady Lily Ashcroft fell for dashing Oxford professor Lord Randal Nesbitt at sixteen. Four years later, her older sister Rose wants him—and with two sisters locked in a tempestuous love triangle, scandal can only be around the corner…
A GENTLEMAN’S PLOT TO TIE THE KNOT - England, 1677 - Determined to land a wealthy, titled husband, Lady Rose Ashcroft heads off to Charles II’s court to find love. And runs smack dab into Christopher “Kit” Martyn, the one man who could ruin all her plans.
More Chase Family Books
CHASE FAMILY SERIES
When an Earl Meets a Girl
How to Undress a Marquess
If You Dared to Love a Laird
A Duke’s Guide to Seducing His Bride
Never Doubt a Viscount
The Scandal of Lord Randal
A Gentleman’s Plot to Tie the Knot
A Secret Christmas
A Chase Family Christmas
CHASE FAMILY SERIES: THE REGENCY
Tempt Me at Midnight
Tempting Juliana
The Art of Temptation
Chase Family Tree
To see a larger version of the Chase Family Tree, click here!
A Secret Christmas
For my dear nieces
Stacy and Lindsay Gordon
Wisconsin and London are one thing,
but please don’t move to Wales.
I don’t cope well in the wilderness.
One
Grosmont Grange, England
December 20, 1651
LADY CHRYSTABEL Trevor adored Christmas.
Or at least she had until this year.
She frowned as her sap-sticky hands wove yet another wreath from the greenery she and her younger sister had collected. “Just five more days,” she said, thinking of all the decorating they still had to do.
Arabel meticulously measured two loops of red ribbon. “But just four days until Christmas Eve.”
“Yes, and we have to be ready by Christmas Eve.” Chrystabel sighed as she eyed the enormous pile of boughs they’d cut and trimmed. “I cannot believe how long it took to make the garlands. This isn’t easy alone.”
“You’re not alone, Chrystabel.” Arabel sounded sweetly sympathetic. “I’m still here. Matthew’s still here.”
“Martha and Cecily aren’t here.” Martha and Cecily were their older sisters. “And neither is Mother.” Not that Mother had helped her girls prepare for Christmas, anyway. She’d always been a rather uninvolved parent, leaving her children to be raised by nursemaids. But this was their first Christmas without her, and having her home and not participating had been better than not having her with them at all. “It makes me sad that we never see her.”
“Just pretend she’s dead,” Arabel suggested airily.
Arabel said everything airily. Pretty, seventeen-year-old Arabel was dark-haired and dark-eyed and statuesque—like Chrystabel and the rest of the Trevors—and she was the happiest person Chrystabel knew. Nothing ruffled her. She could find the good side of anything.
Unabated cheerfulness like that set Chrystabel’s teeth on edge.
“Mother is not dead,” she pointed out unnecessarily. “I could forgive her if she were dead.” Their father had died, after all—fighting for the king in the Civil War—and Chrystabel had never blamed him for leaving them. Death was sad but normal.
But there was nothing normal about being alive and not even an hour’s ride away—and ignoring your own children.
Especially at Christmas.
Chrystabel set her jaw. “I will never forgive her for marrying that…that man.”
That man was the Marquess of Bath, and he had no interest in the grown children of his second wife. The sorry and shocking thing was that Mother seemed similarly disinclined to spend time with her first family. She was too busy with her new husband and his children that she was raising. Raising. Even though she’d barely deigned to notice Chrystabel and her brother and three sisters—the five children she’d given birth to—all the years they were growing up.
“You cannot let Mother’s selfishness ruin our Christmas,” Arabel chided. “We’re not children anymore. Let it go. I have. Martha and Cecily have.”
“Martha and Cecily are married with children of their own. They don’t need a mother anymore.”
“For heaven’s sake, Chrys, you’re nineteen years old—you don’t need a mother anymore, either.” Arabel handed her a perfect red bow. “Here. Attach it, and that’s one more wreath finished.”
“Still twelve more to make,” Chrystabel said with a sigh.
Arabel’s laugh sounded suspiciously like a snort. “You’re the one who insists upon decorating this entire, huge house.”
Arabel was right about that—and more. Chrystabel knew she needed to dispense with the anger she felt toward their mother. It served no purpose. She would take a lesson from her less-than-ideal childhood: When she had her own family, she would do better.
Right then and there, she determined to do better.